More Observations On Why We Publish On Vocal
Mine And My Thoughts On Others
Introduction
I am not a very supportive Vocal Creator, if I were I would appear on the Vocal Leaderboard, I seldom get a Top Story, and maybe the odd honourable mention. Top Stories do generate reads but most of mine come outside of Vocal, probably because I don't comment enough on others' stories.
My Observations
I write to record for posterity and to entertain, and I always hope that people may read my work.
Recently I have dropped into some stories by some creators, more than once and found that I am the only commentator. This does not seem to discourage the creator (the fact that I am the only commentator, not the fact that I am the commentator) which made me think that some creators use Vocal as a diary cum documentation store. I do the same with my blog, it is a diary of the books I read these days, although it was my precursor to Vocal.
I started this and forgot to finish it before I went to bed, luckily I had saved it.
Back to the original premise of this, I think there are some creators who almost don't expect to be read on Vocal. There may be many reasons for this:
- They are collecting their stories for some anthology (I do that)
- They write a lot of stories so don't expect all of them to be read (I do that and I tell my friends I am a bit like a newspaper so just choose things that interest you, though many have unsubscribed, not because they dislike me or don't rate me, but I flood their feed. I blame Vocal for not including a notification feed filter 😀😁🤣🙃)
- They are part of a personal diary but are happy to share it with those who want to read
I sometimes feel a bit worried that they may be upset they have not been read, I know I do if certain friends don;t read mine, though I understand that they probably just haven't seen it, and if I think that they would really be interested I will send it to them in a direct message, and then they do read it.
Conclusion
As I say, these are just a few observations on why people publish on Vocal. There obviously the challenges, official and unofficial as well, and then pieces like this which is just to let people know what we think.
Today, for the first time ever, I watched my phone go from 0:59 am to 2:00 am to usher in daylight saving (it is 2:42 am now).
Thank you for reading and I would love to know your thoughts.
The music is "Think For A Minute" by The Housemartins and the image was generated on Nightcafe using the text:
"text stories as geometric representations"
About the Creator
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Comments (11)
Interesting. I've never been that bothered about comments and engagement. Some of what appears here is in lieu of a "proper" blog. Some is experimenting with ideas. Some is just for my own amusement. Comments are nice (at least, actual comments rather than leaderboard-chasing spam are nice) but never mission-critical for me. Possibly I should engage more with others, though. Maybe a belated New Year's resolution.
Good job. I write here as said before just to share what I have learned and still learning.
Those who have unsubscribed from you would get hit by a truck
Great observations...I'd like to see what each generation writes and why. Wish there were some way to do surveys?
How to use Vocal or is it How to be part of Vocal That is the question. I feel at times it takes away my want to complete other works and holds me in place Other times I enjoy the challenges Mostly I enjoy reading others works, supporting when I can. It’s like living in a small town either I leave and explore other places or I may get trapped here You may not read or comment on my works but I do try to read yours as some of them interest me
Sorry I missed so many of your articles those several months I was away.
How cool that you included the prompt you used to create the art image. I was going to ask you that, because I loved it. And reminded me to my well forgotten fractals stories, it must be the geometrical association. I’ve gotten discouraged many times here when my stories get little attention, especially the ones that carry a lot of emotion and feeling to me like anything I write about my Pupu Bunny. I have left the platform for that reason many times and have come back for another chance again again. I am currently in a vulnerable place so I am blaming that this time. I’m trying to be more active now but I know I will give up if I don’t see much point to justify the time I invest. We all know time is money and I have to start thinking more about how to best invest my time. That’s the reality and has gone bad for a while. I stopped being active on social media some time ago and that was a mistake since there’s where I could get more reads and views. You asked, so you got the long story. 😁
It's always a challenge to provide support to those you follow without becoming completely immersed in it. Some creators soak the platform daily, and while I don't like to leave reviews unread, it isn't possible to go through eight or ten by the same creator at he expense of others. So I try to share he love. I like your newspaper analogy. As I have commented before what does piss me off a bit is when you support someone work and get absolutely zero back. I think that is just plain rude.
Gosh I haven’t heard this song in forever! Thank you! Used to love the house martins. Really interesting article. I write on vocal to keep me honest or i probably wouldn’t write at all. The first story I wrote on here was the first thing I’d written since school. Anyway. Good article.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately too, Mike. I've been struggling for a while with how I want to use Vocal. It's fun knowing that there are so many different ways to do it at least!
🌹I mostly write on Vocal for myself. Don't get me wrong, it's always nice when others read and comment on my work <3